Former CEO and founder of now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has pleaded not guilty after federal prosecutors filed charges for eight counts of fraud.
The charges were filed after FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and people who were close to him were accused of defrauding his crypto customers and investors for billions.
The FTX founder stood in person before Judge Lewis A. Kaplan at the U.S. District Court in Manhattan where he pleaded not guilty through his counsel.
The charges came after the collapse of his cryptocurrency empire.
Sam Bankman-Fried has arrived in court for his arraignment. We’re told he will plead not guilty to all the charges against him. pic.twitter.com/yakSLkOus8
— Connell McShane (@connellmcshane) January 3, 2023
In an exclusive report published by the Daily Caller, it was revealed that “Federal prosecutors brought charges for eight counts of fraud against Bankman-Fried alleging that since at least 2019, the former tech mogul had been using customers’ funds to pay for trades conducted by Alameda Research, a trading house the former billionaire owned.”
“Two of Bankman-Fried’s business partners — former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder and former CTO Gary Wang — have both plead guilty to their roles in the alleged scheme, with Ellison testifying Dec. 19 that she knowingly helped Bankman-Fried cook the companies’ books to conceal billions of dollars worth of illegal loans that Alameda and FTX made to connected individuals,” the report added.
Reports revealed that the date for Bankman-Fried’s trial has been scheduled by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Oct. 2, 2023.
The controversy arose following a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 13, Bankman-Fried and his associates within FTX and Alameda took advantage of their wealth to “make undisclosed venture investments, lavish real estate purchases, and large political donations.”
The former FTX CEO’s recent court appearance came following his release from federal custody after his parents signed a $250 million personal recognizance bond.
According to his attorney, Mark Cohen in the filing, “in recent weeks, Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents have become the target of intense media scrutiny, harassment, and threats.”
“Consequently, there is serious cause for concern that the two additional sureties would face similar intrusions on their privacy as well as threats and harassment if their names appear unredacted on their bonds or their identities are otherwise publicly disclosed.” Cohen added in the filing.
Last month, Bankman-Fried was arrested and charged by the US government for allegedly intentionally deceiving his investors.
According to the indictment that began in 2019, Bankman-Fried allegedly devised “a scheme and artifice to defraud” where FTX’s customers and investors diverted their money to pay debts and expenses using his crypto hedge fund.
“Risk of flight is so great that Samuel Bankman-Fried ought to be remanded in custody. I am not satisfied that there is any condition that I could place in Samuel Bankman-Fried to sufficiently satisfy, because of his access to substantial finances, that he would not and could not abscond.” Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt said in a statement.
